


eyes wide to you with wonder

by aknightley



Series: Office AU [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Fluff, M/M, non-binary Pidge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-08 06:11:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7746172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aknightley/pseuds/aknightley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith doesn't dislike his job, but he definitely dislikes Lance. Probably. Maybe.</p><p>  <em>"Coran thinks you'll bang at the Christmas party but I think that's giving you guys way too much credit," Pidge says thoughtfully. "Hunk is a romantic. He thinks Lance is gonna ask you out any day now. I think he's got a week or so before he owes me like a hundred bucks." </em></p><p>  <em>"Pidge, what the fuck?" Keith says, flustered. He nudges them again with his foot, this time slightly harder. They scowl at him, swatting him away. "Why would you bet on me and Lance?"</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	eyes wide to you with wonder

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the office au where I deliberately avoid talking about what this office actually does, and also no one actually does any office work. Also, I can't even write a normal office au, I gotta put weird drama in it too and have it turn out to be 8K for no reason. Anyway, thank you so much to [bluegamerturtle](http://bluegamerturtle.tumblr.com/), who betaed this for me. :) 
> 
> Title is from the Misterwives song, "Box Around the Sun."
> 
> ETA: AHH! Slightly spoilerly art by [kantr](http://kantr.tumblr.com) can be found [here!](http://kantr.tumblr.com/post/148912829710) Please go and like and reblog!
> 
> ETA2: More great art by [morgensternmary](http://morgensternmary.tumblr.com) can be found [here!](http://morgensternmary.tumblr.com/post/149575945775/i-love-the-office-au-fic-eyes-wide-to-you-with) Aaaaaand more can be found [ here!](http://morgensternmary.tumblr.com/post/149629598790) Please go like and reblog!

It's not that Keith dislikes his job, exactly. It's definitely not exactly what he'd choose to be doing with his life, but it pays the bills, and Shiro is a good boss. He doesn't get mad when Keith makes faces behind their clients' backs, or when he 'accidentally' loses appointments with the obnoxious salespeople who try to come in and take up all of Shiro's day. He's not the best secretary out there, that's a given, but he does a good job of keeping up with everything Shiro needs, which is all he's really worried about. 

He likes his coworkers, too. Pidge is the youngest by at least five years, but they're an incredible asset to the company. They manage all of Voltron Tech's internet presence and handle some of the research and development as well. Hunk is a genius when it comes to the number crunching and accounts, and sometimes he's able to help Pidge as well. Lance is -- 

Well, Lance is Lance. 

Keith has been working here for two years and he still isn't quite sure what Lance does; sometimes he's a sales rep and sometimes he's office manager and sometimes he's just a giant pain in Keith's ass. No one manages to get on his nerves as quickly as Lance does, not even Sendak from Galra Enterprises. Keith knows he should be used to it by now, but it's like every time he interacts with Lance his brain just fizzles back into that same state of annoyed resignation. 

He's feeling it now, while Lance sits on the corner of his desk and gestures wildly with a coffee cup that is hopefully empty. "So what's on Shiro's schedule today? Anything juicy?"

"If there was--" There wasn't. "--I wouldn't be telling _you,"_ Keith says, rolling his eyes. He opens up his email application and refreshes just so he looks busy, but truthfully it's been a quiet morning. Shiro is in a conference call with Allura, and will probably stay on the phone with her for the rest of the morning. Lance apparently is also having a slow morning, given that he seemingly has no interest in getting off of Keith's desk and leaving.

"Rude," Lance informs him, taking a sip of his coffee and making a disgusted face. When Keith lifts an eyebrow, he explains, "I stole this from Hunk. It's black, ugh." 

"Pidge is the one who likes a bunch of sweetener in their coffee," Keith says helpfully. He taps the keyboard a few more times meaningfully, but Lance just settles back more comfortably.

"I know, it's probably the only thing keeping them alive. Their blood stream has to be like, 80% sugar granules at this point." Lance takes another sip of the coffee and shudders a little. Keith's mouth quirks despite himself. "Do you think Shiro and Allura are having phone sex in there?"

" _What?_ " Keith splutters, glad he hadn't been drinking his own coffee. Lance just smirks at him over the top of his cup, raising his eyebrows suggestively. " _No,_ " Keith says firmly, faintly horrified. "Why would you even think that?"

"There's a betting pool on when they'll get together," Lance says breezily. "I'm just trying to keep ahead of the curve, and you've got a direct line to the hot gossip. You sure there's no hanky panky going on?" he asks hopefully. Keith grimaces at him.

"Yes," he says. "Shiro would never do something like that at work."

"Aha!" Lance shouts, pointing at Keith. Keith jumps, heart skipping a beat. "So you don't deny that he would do it in general, then." 

"I don't know," Keith says, shrugging. "He and Allura get along, but I haven't ever heard anything from him about it." He's noticed Shiro's gaze lingering warmly on Allura while she's talking during company meetings, and sometimes Shiro will hold the door open for Allura and she'll blush a little bit, but that doesn't mean anything. Not that he thinks Shiro would tell him if he were hooking up with the owner of the company. That's probably something you keep on a need-to-know basis, and Shiro is well aware that Lance spends a disproportionate amount of his time at Keith's desk. He's listened to Keith complain about it enough by this point.

"The truth is out there," Lance whispers dramatically. He finally hops up off of Keith's desk, lifting his arms above his head as he stretches. His body is long and lean in his casual suit jacket and pants, less scrawny than he looks, and Keith only barely tugs his gaze away from his hips before Lance is saluting him as he walks away. "See ya later, Moneypenny."

Keith waits until Lance has gone out of the room before he lowers his face to the desk and groans.

 

* * *

 

Pidge is under their desk when he goes to talk to them later that day. This isn't unusual for Pidge, who can usually be found either fiddling with hardware or hunched over their computer in various places in the office. Keith has found them asleep in the supply closet at seven in the morning before, because they'd gone in there for pens and passed out because it was four o'clock at night. Right now they've got wires looped around their shoulder and a small penlight in their mouth.  They blink owlishly up at him when he moves their chair out of the way, but then they spit the penlight out.

"Why is there a betting pool for Shiro and Allura?" he asks, sitting down in the chair and nudging them with a foot gently. "You know he'd be embarrassed if he found out." 

Pidge has the grace to look a little apologetic, because none of them want Shiro to be upset about anything ever, but then they shrug. "It's all in good fun. Shiro would be fine with it, as long as Lance didn't give him a hard time forever about it. Honestly I'm more worried about Lance finding about the one for you and him." 

Keith is nodding absently along with Pidge's words until that last bit sinks in. "Wait, what?"

"Coran thinks you'll bang at the Christmas party but I think that's giving you guys way too much credit," Pidge says thoughtfully. "Hunk is a romantic. He thinks Lance is gonna ask you out any day now. I think he's got a week or so before he owes me like a hundred bucks." 

"Pidge, what the fuck?" Keith says, flustered. He nudges them again with his foot, this time slightly harder. They scowl at him, swatting him away. "Why would you bet on me and _Lance_?"

"Puh-lease," Pidge says, rolling their eyes. "That's been building since you first started working here, dude. I called that the minute you slammed the door in his face to keep him from following Shiro into his office on your first day." 

Keith sputters, "Why would you think that, you weirdo, I hated him! Hate -- I hate him now," he added hastily, turning red. 

"Suuuuure," Pidge drawls. "That's why you let him hang out at your desk, and let him call you 'Moneypenny,' and make sure there are always plenty of his favorite cookies in the break room, right?" 

"I don't _let him_ hang out at my desk, I can't get him to leave! And he calls me that because he's a tool, and it doesn't even make sense because I'm not _his_  secretary. Also, those cookies are mine, I don't put them there for him to steal!" Keith cannot believe he's having to explain to Pidge that he doesn't like Lance. Pidge has been on the receiving end of more than one complaint session over Lance ruining Keith's day. They should know how he feels by now, and it's not _romantic_. 

"Listen, Keith," Pidge says, almost comfortingly, "It's okay. Lance has a great butt and nice eyes. You can admit it, I won't tell. But if you could hold off jumping him until like, next January, that would be really great. Coran bet a lot of money on the Christmas party thing and I have a bad feeling he's gonna scalp me over Allura and Shiro. I know he's getting insider information about it." 

Keith's head is spinning a little ( _Lance has a great butt and nice eyes?_  he thinks incredulously, but part of him guiltily acknowledges that he already knew that), but he has to know one thing. "Lance doesn't know, right? About you guys -- about you betting on us?" 

"No," Pidge says,  "Although I'm worried Hunk might say something since he's about to lose." They frown. "I guess I shouldn't have said anything to you, but honestly, I'm trusting your repressed feelings to work in my favor here." 

"Fuck off," Keith says, jabbing out with his foot again, smirking when they yelp and tangle themselves up in the wires. He leaves them like that, cursing quietly under the desk, silently feeling like his world has been very neatly upended.

It's not like Keith doesn't know that he spends a lot of time with Lance -- they spend hours together each day, but they're coworkers. He spends time with Pidge and Hunk and Shiro too. He has lunch dates with Allura so they can worry about Shiro together away from the others. He and Coran meet up weekly to talk about Shiro and Allura's schedules and also bitch about dealing with shitty clients and the Galra Enterprises employees who keep trying to sneak into the building to spy on them. So maybe Lance spends a _lot_  of time at his desk, and maybe some of their bickering has gotten less hostile as time has gone on -- that does not mean they like each other, or that they want to _date_. 

Pidge is completely wrong on this one, he decides. It had to happen at some point.

 

* * *

 

"You're disgusting," Keith says flatly, watching Lance eat a cookie with an obnoxiously open mouth as he leans against Keith's desk. "I can see everything in your mouth, you pig. Your mother is probably crying right now and she doesn't even know why." 

"My mother raised me, she knows exactly why she's crying," Lance retorts, smirking around another bite of cookie. There are crumbs on the corners of his mouth, and Keith has to clench his fingers to keep from reaching up to brush them away. "Anyway, I'm about to order a bunch of supplies for the office, is there anything you need replacing? Pens? Sticky notes? Batteries for your cold, dead heart?"

"A lock on the door," Keith replies dryly, biting back a smile when Lance laughs. "I think I'm okay for right now. And Hunk keeps those emergency supplies anyway." He smirks when Lance makes an outraged noise. Hunk had started an emergency supply of office items after Lance had forgotten to order new toilet paper one month, and no one has told Lance where it is as punishment.   
  
Lance scowls. "One day I'm gonna find that emergency stash. You guys can't hide it forever."

"Sure," Keith agrees. "Except that we can." 

Lance leans in close, close enough that Keith can see just how long his lashes are, and can faintly smell chocolate on his breath. He tries to lean back but he's already pressed as far back as he can go in his chair, and he feels his heart rate pick up without his permission. Lance presses a single long finger into his chest, and Keith worries immediately that he can feel his heart beating underneath, hopes it isn't as noticeable as it feels. He abruptly remembers what Pidge had implied about the two of them, and feels his face turning red. Fuck. 

"I'll get it out of you," Lance promises solemnly, apparently not noticing that Keith is going through a small crisis. There are still crumbs on the corner of his mouth. All Keith would have to do would be to reach up and brush them aside. His fingers twitch a little against the arms of his chair. "All it takes is one slip up."

"You're assuming there's only one hiding place," Keith says, glad that his voice doesn't shake. Lance finally leans back to cross his arms, and Keith exhales slowly, struggling to calm down. It's fine. It's just the first time he's been that close to Lance since his conversation with Pidge. It doesn't mean anything. 

"I'll remember this, Keith," Lance says, picking up a notepad and checking something off of it. "You're on the list." 

"I'm terrified," Keith says, halfway worried he _means it,_ except for a different reason altogether, and then jumps when the phone next to him rings. Lance shoots him a smile and a wink as he walks away, and Keith picks up the phone on autopilot, saying "Takashi Shirogane's office, Keith speaking," and clenching a fist under the desk where no one can see. 

 

* * *

 

"Keith," Shiro says wearily, "What are you doing?" He's sitting at his desk with his chin propped up with a hand and a very resigned expression on his face. Keith mentally makes a note to make sure he takes a real lunch today, instead of just eating at his desk over reports like he has been for the last week. He looks a little tired.

"Dusting," Keith says, pressing his ear up against Shiro's office door to see if he can hear Lance leaving. He's taken to running into Shiro's office or ducking into the supply closet when he hears Lance coming, because once he started thinking about it, he spends _a lot_ of his day with Lance. Way more than he'd realized. They often ended up grabbing the lunch orders together because it was too much for Keith to carry on his own, and Lance was always looking for excuses to get out of the office; they held competitions for small, stupid things, like who could fax something quicker, or who would get more phone calls in a single day; and always, always Lance would find time to stop by Keith's desk and bicker with him about something. It was only once he'd started avoiding Lance that Keith realizes how much he's kind of started _looking forward_  to seeing him.

Which is why he's hiding now, listening to Lance shuffle a little bit outside and pick up the little trinkets on Keith's desk. He bites his lip, hoping Lance doesn't notice the little bright red paperweight that Lance had gotten for him last year, claiming he'd found Keith's real heart and was giving it back. Keith had promised to throw it away, but he likes the swirls of colors on it, and it looks nice sitting tucked underneath his monitor. He kind of regrets it now, especially since he's been in the middle of a minor crisis for the last two days, and the last thing he wants to be worrying about is a stupid paperweight.

"You couldn't even try to come up with a good excuse, could you?" Shiro asks rhetorically, sighing a little. "Why are you avoiding Lance?" 

Keith glances back at him and frowns. "I'm not avoiding Lance," he lies. Shiro gives him a deadpan stare. "Okay, I'm -- I'm kind of avoiding Lance," Keith admits. 

"Is this about the betting pool?" Shiro asks, concerned. Keith turns around fully, gaping at him. Shiro covers his mouth and then grimaces. "I mean--"

"You know about that?" Keith says, voice cracking a little bit. "Why didn't you say something?" He glances at the door in alarm, hoping Lance can't hear him. He wonders if Lance is still out there, waiting on him, and feels a guilty pang low in his stomach.

"Because your relationship with Lance is your business," Shiro says gently. He spreads his hands in a calming gesture that Keith doesn't really appreciate, because he's not feeling very calm. "And it's not my place or anyone else's to get involved." He pauses a moment, and then continues hesitantly, "I don't understand why you're taking it out on Lance, though." 

"What does that mean?" Keith asks, baffled. 

"He's been moping around the office for the last two days like a kicked puppy, Keith," Shiro says bluntly. Keith flinches a little, avoiding Shiro's knowing gaze. "He doesn't understand why you'd be avoiding him because, as you well know, Lance hasn't done anything." 

Keith crosses his arms over his stomach, where the pang has turned into an ache. "I just -- it's weird to be around him, I guess. Knowing that people think we -- that we _like_  each other." His ears feel like they're burning, which he hopes Shiro hasn't noticed. 

"Keith," Shiro says patiently, "You _do_  like each other. No, listen--" he continues, when Keith opens his mouth to protest, "I'm not saying you're in love with him." Keith's entire face goes pink, and he makes a strangled noise. "But you two have been coworkers for a long time now, and you get along. Just accept that. You're friends."

Keith wants to argue, but he's not very good at lying, especially to Shiro. He knows he and Lance get along -- but this is different. This is people thinking that they have the potential to be _dating_. Him. Dating _Lance_. 

He wonders what Lance would think about the idea of them dating.

The ache in his stomach transfers to his chest, and he bites his lip. "I know," he says finally. "You're right." He takes a deep breath and then lets it out. "I'm being an asshole." 

"Yeah, kind of," Shiro agrees, ducking his head when Keith grabs a pen and throws it at him. "Get out of my office, Keith," Shiro says, smiling a little. Keith frowns at him, but squares his shoulders and opens the door, peering cautiously out. 

Lance is gone.

Keith's body loses its tension, but he can't help feeling a little -- disappointed. He sits down at his desk again, glancing at the empty doorway, and then notices the napkin on his desk. There's a cookie on it, and a note stuck to the front of his monitor. 

 _Sorry I missed you, Moneypenny_. 

Keith feels himself smiling before he realizes he's doing it. He touches the corner of his mouth in surprise, and then rolls his eyes at himself. His face still feels warm, but he can probably blame that on the shitty air conditioning. 

"This is _my_  cookie anyway, jackass," he mutters out loud, but he eats it nonetheless, quietly pleased.

 

* * *

 

He stops avoiding Lance, which honestly helps his stress go down immensely. Not only was it making him guilty and anxious trying to avoid Lance in a small office, but his conversations with Lance have apparently helped him with his regular work day frustrations, because he catches himself spilling a few days worth of complaints the next time Lance stops by his desk.

(Lance half-heartedly tilts his head into the room, clearly expecting Keith to be gone, and his eyes widen with surprise before he schools his face into a smirk when he spots him behind the desk. Keith pretends to glare but can't quite smother the feeling of relief that Lance is still seeking him out, and he doesn't even offer a perfunctory attempt at trying to keep Lance from sitting on his desk. He also ignores the slight flutters in his stomach when Lance beams at him as he perches more comfortably.) 

"If I catch Sendak loitering around the lobby one more time, I'm going to call the cops," he says now, frowning down at the coffee Lance had brought him. The coffee is fine (it's actually just how he likes it), but the issues with Galra Enterprises are only growing more frequent. "Or maybe fight him myself. It depends on if Shiro is in the building."

"I'll help," Lance offers, idly kicking his feet against the side of the desk and lifting an arm to flex his muscles. There's nothing really to see in a work shirt, but Lance raises his eyebrows suggestively at Keith; Keith lifts a single eyebrow, unimpressed. "Fuck you, I go to the gym," Lance says indignantly, and Keith struggles to keep from smiling at the faux-hurt expression on his face. 

"Sendak is literally twice your size," Keith says, cupping his coffee in both hands and taking a leisurely sip.

"So what does that make him to you, tiny?" Lance asks, poking Keith's cheek and making him spit a little of his coffee back out. Keith swats a hand at him, sputtering a little, grabbing for a napkin to wipe his chin. Most of the coffee ends up on his shirt, which is thankfully black today, but it's noticeable enough that he sighs and starts unbuttoning it.

Lance makes a strange noise, and when Keith looks up he's gaping at Keith's hands like they've insulted him. "What are you doing?" Lance asks, voice oddly pitched.

"I'm taking off the shirt you ruined, asshole," Keith says, a little bewildered. He's got a change of clothes hanging in the coat closet, because all of them keep spare clothing lying around after the last time Pidge accidentally set off the sprinkler systems, and it doesn't make sense to wear a shirt with coffee on it. He shrugs out of the sleeves and tosses it at Lance's face just to be a jerk, but Lance just catches it and stares hard at the surface of Keith's desk.

Keith is about to ask him what's wrong, when he notices Lance is _blushing_. 

He flushes himself, a little stunned; he'd been so caught up in just talking to Lance and being with him again that he hadn't thought about -- about everything else. He reaches into the closet and tugs his shirt free, pulling it on and buttoning it up as quickly as possible. He glances at Lance out of the corner of his eye as he smooths his collar down, just in time to see Lance's gaze slide quickly away from him.

If Lance is blushing, does that mean he _knows?_  That -- that people have been making assumptions about them? Keith chews on his lip, debating, but can't bring himself to say anything. He's not sure what he's going to do when Lance finds out about the betting pool (because it honestly feels like it's only a matter of time, especially in this office), but he doesn't want to ruin his first conversation with Lance in two days over bringing up something that will only embarrass both of them. 

He clears his throat and sits back down, punching Lance's side. Lance jumps, automatically yelping, and then looks cautiously down at him. "You owe me dry cleaning, jackass," he says, leaning back casually in his chair. Lance peers at him for a moment longer and scoffs loudly. 

"Like you've ever had a single thing dry cleaned in your life, Moneypenny," he says, waving a hand dismissively. "You don't even know what an ironing board is."

"Just because I don't use face creams every night doesn't make me an incompetent adult, Lance," Keith says, rolling his eyes, quietly thrilled that Lance is smirking at him like normal. 

"That's exactly what that means, Keith," Lance says seriously. 

Keith tries to shove him off his desk, laughing when Lance squawks loud enough that Shiro yells through the door for them to keep it down, watching the blush rise in Lance's cheeks and linger. He determinedly ignores the warmth filling his chest as he watches Lance attempt to explain to Shiro that it was all Keith's fault. It's nothing, he tells himself. It's _nothing_.

 

* * *

 

Keith's job as secretary means he's got a lot of free time, because Shiro's fairly low maintenance as far as presidents of companies go, but he gets restless easily, so he tries to fill it with other small jobs around the building. If Shiro is going to be filling out reports all morning, or if he's out making eyes at Allura over spreadsheets during their weekly get together, Keith will forward calls to his cell phone and walk around the office, just checking up on everything and making sure nothing needs to get done. 

There's a light in the main lobby that needs to be changed, so he grabs a bulb and a ladder and makes his way out there, ignoring the finger guns Pidge shoots him from behind their desk. He's trying not to think about the bet, but it creeps in at the strangest times -- he'll be picking through his fried rice and suddenly remember the time Lance brought him dinner one evening when he was forced to stay late finding and faxing files to Shiro, who was away at a conference. The other day, he'd been driving home and a song came on that sounded familiar, and he realized it was because Lance was _constantly_  humming it under his breath while he typed away at his computer. 

(Worst of all, last night he'd had a _dream_. He'd woken up panting, half hard in his boxers with flashes of warm brown skin and dark blue eyes swimming in his mind, and he'd gritted his teeth, stuck his hand down his pants and jerked himself off, furiously thinking _this cannot be happening._ It had been an incredible orgasm, but he'd laid in bed feeling awful for thirty minutes before he had to drag himself to work. He'd avoided looking directly into Lance's eyes for the rest of the day.)

He balances on the ladder, pulling the burned out bulb out and gently screwing the new one in. His mind is caught up in guiltily remembering how nice Lance had looked this morning, because he'd had a meeting at another office and therefore was wearing one of his nicer suits; he doesn't notice when someone walks into the room, but he does notice when someone says, "You're way too short to be doing that." 

Keith jerks, flailing, and loses his footing on the ladder. He has a split second to think _this is gonna fucking hurt_  before he's falling, but instead of landing on the ground, he slams into someone's arms. 

"Fucking ouch," Lance mutters in his ear. Keith opens eyes he'd involuntarily closed to find that he's being held like a fucking princess by Lance , who's standing there in his stupid nice suit, grinning at him. Lance's hands are warm at the back of his knees, and his face is so close that Keith can count the freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose. Keith colors, struggling to be let down, but Lance just grips him tighter, grin widening. "Hey, you fell for me," he says. He winks obnoxiously, obviously kidding, but Keith's heart skips a beat.

Keith feels his whole face go hot and he reaches up to pinch Lance's cheek hard. Lance yelps and lets Keith's legs go so he falls again, and Keith immediately puts five feet between them, struggling to not let his flushed cheeks and tripping pulse show. Lance is laughing a little as he fixes his suit jacket, and the sight of that smile kicks off a warmth in Keith's gut that he doesn't know how to handle.

"I thought you were out today," Keith snaps, turning back to the ladder and climbing back up to finish replacing the bulb, hoping Lance doesn't notice the way his voice is a little uneven. 

"Finished up early," Lance says, stretching out his long body with a pleased noise. Keith swallows and glances away. "Marissa's wife went into labor so we had to cut it short. We'll pick back up again next Tuesday." Keith still has no idea what Lance actually does, so he just nods his head and focuses determinedly on the light. Lance doesn't leave, just leans against the wall and watches Keith fumble with the light cover, smiling absently. Keith ignores him, climbing back down the ladder and hefting it over his shoulder, determined to flee the scene and avoid making a fool of himself. He can't believe that _Lance_  of all people is making him this flustered. Lance, who once almost burned down the office kitchen because he'd forgotten to take the foil lid off his leftovers before heating them up.

Lance, who just saved him from falling onto the ground and literally cradled him in his arms, Keith's brain reminds him traitorously. 

Lance holds the door open for him, and starts idly chatting about the meeting, about traffic, about what he and Hunk are going to do after work today. Keith tries to tune him out but catches himself smiling absently at the way Lance waves his hands around, or the excited expression on his face as he talks. 

They finally come to the hallway that separates their sides of office, and Lance helpfully opens the last door for Keith before turning on his heel and walking away. "See ya later, Moneypenny," Lance calls, and Keith hides his smile behind the closing door. 

 

* * *

 

So this is a thing, he thinks. Feeling things for Lance. Liking Lance. (More than liking Lance? Maybe?) 

It's less scary the more he thinks about it. Or maybe it's more that it's more familiar than he thought it would be. He and Lance spend the same amount of time together, doing the same things they'd already been doing, but now Keith acknowledges that when Lance touches his shoulder or gives him a coy look under his lashes, his heart starts racing because he's attracted to Lance, not because Lance inherently annoys him.

Lance is still annoying, don't get him wrong. But when Keith catches himself glancing at the door five times in as many minutes, waiting for Lance to stop by, he has to accept that he's _gone_. He really likes Lance.

Which is -- a thing. 

The problem is, he knows that everyone else thinks that they're both slow burning their way to drunken Christmas party sex, but Keith has absolutely no idea about how Lance feels. Lance is flirty, yeah, but Lance literally flirts with anyone who catches his eyes. He's friendly and sociable by nature, and for all Keith knows, Lance just likes to bicker playfully with Keith every day because it's fun. 

He considers talking to Pidge or Hunk about it, but he doesn't want to deal with them being smug or overly excited about the fact that they were essentially right, so he just -- lets everything stay the same way it is. He deals with the pleasant squirm in his stomach whenever Lance's legs touch his arm when he perches on Keith's desk, deals with the way his heart skips a beat whenever Lance leaves him teasing notes around the office, deals with his ears turning red whenever Lance walks around talking on the phone with his serious face, firm mouth and lowered brows turning his usually affable smile into a somewhat sexy smirk. 

It's fine.

Everything was fine before, and it can stay that way. Keith reminds himself of this as he locks the office, shivering in his coat and picking his way across the dark parking lot towards his car. Everyone else has already gone, but he'd stayed behind to finish preparing a bunch of reports that Shiro would need for an out of town meeting in the morning. He rubs at his eyes absently, patting his coat pockets for his car keys and then groaning when his hands came up empty.

"Fuck," he mutters, turning around to head back into the building. He'll have to reset all the alarms, which means extra time, which means he's probably going to miss out on catching the television show Lance recommended to him. He'd been looking forward to mocking it no matter how good it was, just to see Lance defend it. Lance passionately defending something is incredibly attractive, something that Keith admits to himself is probably what brings him to provoke Lance into doing it so often. 

It's dark inside, muted and eerie without the various sounds half a dozen people make as they work to cut through the silence. Keith pulls his coat tighter around his body and heads towards his desk, silently cursing himself, annoyed that he's creeped out by the same office that he works in five days a week just because the lights are off.

He notices it just as he's about to push the door open -- a flash of light coming from underneath it, sweeping like a beam. A flashlight. Keith is confused for all of five seconds before he realizes that someone has broken into the office and is snooping around. He grits his teeth and pulls out his phone, pulling up Lance's phone number and putting his phone on silent as an afterthought.

 _Call the cops and tell them to come to the office,_ he types, keeping an eye on the door.

 _????? WHAT,_ he receives, followed by an attempted phone call from 'asshole'. He rejects it immediately, glad he had the foresight to turn the sound off, and texts back:

_Someone broke in just call the cops_

_y can't u do it?_

_I'm inside with them???_

_WHAT_

Keith rolls his eyes and puts his phone away, ignoring the soft buzzing sounds. He's pretty sure he knows who's inside, but he doesn't want to risk letting them get away in case the cops don't get here in time; he waits outside the door, body tense, wishing he could just go inside and catch him in the act. It's only Shiro's worried voice in his head that holds him back, telling him to do things the right way so they can make sure Zarkon doesn't get away with this. Galra Enterprises have been prowling around the edges of Voltron for months now, but to actually break into the office to try and steal information is a new low. He's not exactly surprised, but he can't quite believe they've resorted to breaking in at night like this.

Keith is about to check his phone and see if Lance has confirmed the police are on their way when the door swings open, and Keith finds himself with a face full of flashlight and a startled Sendak staring him in the face.

There's a moment where everything goes still, and then Sendak is swinging a gun to point at Keith's face, and Keith freezes in place, heart rabbiting and phone dropping to the ground with a loud clatter. 

"I saw you lock up and leave," Sendak says, frowning. His hand on the gun is worryingly steady, but Keith doesn't look at it. He keeps his eyes locked onto Sendak's face, trying to appear aloof despite the sudden dryness of his throat. 

"Thought I smelled a rat, so I came back to set the traps," Keith says, smiling coldly. Sendak snorts without amusement, glancing down at the phone on the ground. If he looks at the texts, Keith realizes, he'll know that there's no proof that Galra Enterprises can be implicated. He never told Lance who he thought it was in there. Keith will be the only witness, and he's got a gun pointed at him and no means of getting away. 

"Kick that over here," Sendak demands, and Keith contemplates for a moment, mind racing through options, before he puts his foot to the phone and nudges it, sending it to rest at Sendak's boots. Sendak keeps his eyes and gun on Keith as he bends down, but at the last second looks to the ground to pick it up.

Keith surges forward and grabs for the gun, trying to knock it away. He hears Sendak grunt as they both go crashing to the ground, but he can't tell where the gun is , and the flashlight goes skittering across the ground, plunging them into darkness. He jabs his elbows and knees out as hard as he can, trying to keep curled as small as he can to limit himself as a target, but he still ends up with a blow to the side of his head that leaves stars flashing behind his eyelids, and he cries out before he can stop himself, jolting away.

Sendak swings out again and Keith struggles to block it; he's taken some self defense, and he tries to keep in shape, but Sendak is huge, probably twice his size, and he's also either still got the gun or is closer to it than Keith is. Sendak lands another blow that knocks him to the side, and he gasps for the breath that's been punched out of him. After a pause in which there's only a few shuffling noises, Keith pushes to his knees, squinting through the darkness, trying to ignore the dull throbbing in his skull.

He can't see anything for a moment, just the splay of light from the flashlight arcing across the wall, and then Sendak is on his feet again, blood at the corner of his mouth, pointing the gun at Keith again. He's panting, and there's a bruise already forming on his cheekbone, but he looks grimly pleased, and he makes a point of turning the safety off on the gun so that Keith can hear it click.

"I would apologize for this, but I actually think I'm gonna enjoy it," Sendak snarls, and Keith opens his mouth to say something scathing back because the only other option is letting himself think about how much he does _not_  want to die right now, and then Sendak is crumpling to the ground.

Lance stands behind him, a tire iron in his hands and a furious look on his face. Keith's breath catches in his lungs at his expression, because Lance looks _murderous,_  but then it melts into startled concern when he catches sight of Keith, kneeling on the ground with blood running down his temple.

"What a fucking asshole," Lance says, kicking Sendak out of the way as he makes his way to Keith. He crouches down and reaches out for him, cradling his head in his hands. "Are you okay?" He touches the side of Keith's head with gentle fingers, eyes searching Keith's worriedly. 

"What -- what are you doing here?" Keith croaks out, reaching out to fist his hands in Lance's shirt before he can stop himself. His head still hurts, and he thinks he might pass out any second now, but he hasn't been shot and _Lance saved him;_  this is officially the most bizarre night of his life.

"You literally texted me telling me you were gonna take on some thief by yourself and you expected me to just chill at home?" Lance asks incredulously. His thumbs start to smooth over Keith's cheeks, almost unconsciously and Keith can't tell if he's dizzy because of the injury or because Lance's touch is so soft and his eyes are so warm and he's so close that Keith can feel his breath. 

"I wasn't going to take him on, I just didn't want him to get away," Keith protests. "I didn't know he'd have a gun!" 

"Sure, Moneypenny," Lance says, mouth curving on one side. Lance's face is half shadowed by the lack of light, but Keith can feel the tremor in his hands, can see the relief in his eyes, and he feels something resolve itself in his head. He leans forward and presses his mouth to Lance's, more of a brush of lips than a real kiss, and then leans back, flushing.

Lance stares at him wide-eyed, unmoving, and Keith's heart is pounding so loudly he thinks he can hear it echoing in the hall, but then he realizes that it's another sound altogether -- people are coming into the building.

There are sirens wailing outside, Keith realizes, and footsteps pounding up the stairs. The police. Lance keeps staring at him, mouth parted, and Keith counts to five, trying to ignore the expanding ache in his chest, and then pulls away, standing up just as police officers turn the corner, flashlights blinding them. He holds his hands up and notices Lance doing the same next to him, unnaturally quiet, avoiding Keith's eyes.

"We work here," Keith says clearly, "and this man broke in and threatened my life. My coworker saved me by knocking him out."

The words feel ashy on his tongue, like something has burned up in his mouth. Coworker. He feels like his entire body is numb, even his head, like there's a buzzing in his body that won't stop. He doesn't look at Lance as the police step forward to pull them outside, and neither of them speak to each other as they follow them into the night.  

 

* * *

 

There's a ton of questions, and paperwork, and dealing with Shiro and Allura (out to dinner, apparently, so conveniently contacted together at once -- Keith considers letting Pidge know but then he remembers Lance's blank face and decides he doesn't want to help Pidge at all, ever again), and then Keith has to go to the hospital because Shiro insists on it and head injuries are apparently non-negotiable. 

When he's allowed to leave in the morning, Coran is waiting with coffee for him outside and is there to take him back to his apartment, because Shiro is making him take the rest of the week off. Coran clucks over the bruise on the side of his head, patting his shoulder, and drops him off at home with a bag full of medicine and groceries. Keith thanks him tiredly and then goes and collapses on his couch, asleep in minutes.

When he wakes up at four in the afternoon, he's starving and his head is throbbing slightly, but he doesn't feel like he's going to die, which is an improvement. He stumbles into the kitchen and gulps down an entire glass of water and two aspirin, and then remembers that he _kissed Lance_  and has to grip the counter to keep from falling over. 

"Why did I _do that_?" he says out loud, groaning and covering his face with his hands. The mortification creeps up his spine as he remembers Lance's blank face, the way he hadn't even responded, not even with a joke, the way he'd just watched Keith with that awful expression and then never said anything. He doesn't even know what happened to Lance after they'd been separated for questioning, and Lance had never shown up at the hospital. 

He's so stupid, he thinks, gently knocking his head against his kitchen counter, once, twice. Lance had just _saved his life,_  and brilliant Keith decided to kiss him and fuck up one of the best friendships he'd ever had. Excellent job, he thinks to himself sarcastically. Because his life wasn't ridiculous enough, with an unrequited secret crush on a coworker -- now he had a unrequited _known_  crush on a coworker, and he'd probably have to find another job somewhere else because Lance was a valuable asset and he was just some secretary -- 

Someone knocks on the door, interrupting the panicked thoughts that are swirling through Keith's head. He takes a moment to compose himself, taking a few deep breaths, and then walks into the other room and opens the front door.

It's Lance, because of course it is. Keith feels his stomach twist as he looks at him -- Lance's eyes are tired and dark, and his hair is sticking up at odd angles like he's been running his hands through it. His clothes are different from the ones he was wearing last night, but they're slightly rumpled, and his tie is hanging loose and crooked around his neck. He's panting, Keith realizes, like he'd run up here, and his face is flushed and slightly wild.

"Lance?" he says, baffled, and Lance makes a soft, frustrated noise and then leans forward, catching his face and kissing him.

The momentum pushes them into the wall, and Keith's hands immediately fly to Lance's shoulders to hold on, because Lance is kissing him like his life depends on it. His mouth is hot and insistent, pressing against Keith's firmly, swiftly deepening the kiss when Keith opens his mouth on a soft moan. When they pull apart for a second, he barely has time to gasp out Lance's name against his mouth before Lance dives back in, pushing his body up against's Keith's and plunging his tongue into Keith's open mouth. The kiss turns wet and dirty, mouths sliding desperately against each other, but Lance's hands are gentle on either side of Keith's head, carefully cradling him so he's not touching the wound. 

They kiss for what feels like forever, Keith's heart pounding wildly in his chest, his lips buzzing and his head spinning; he wants to ask what's happening, what Lance is doing or feeling, but he's terrified that once they stop he's never going to get to have this again, so he winds his arms tighter around Lance's neck and holds on. 

Lance finally pulls back, chest heaving, but he doesn't go far. He presses his forehead against Keith's, breathing heavily with his eyes closed and his brow furrowed. Keith licks his lips, fingers curling in Lance's shirt, but he doesn't say anything, waiting with his heart racing for Lance to speak.  

Lance opens his eyes and leans back a little, face flushed pink, then clears his throat. "So, uh, hey," he says haltingly. 

Keith levels an unimpressed look at him, ignoring the anxious churning in his gut and resisting the urge to punch Lance in the stomach. Lance's fingers are brushing softly through Keith's hair above his ears, tucking the longer strands behind his ears over and over, which is the only thing keeping him from shoving Lance away and out of his apartment. "Hey," Keith says flatly. He hates that his lips are tingling, and that his face still feels hot; he feels like he's already given too much away and he still isn't sure what Lance is doing. 

"Are you um, feeling okay?" Lance asks. Keith's face twists into a scowl and he tries to draw a knee up so he can jab it between Lance's legs. "Fuck, okay, stop!" Lance presses harder against Keith, pinning his body into place to keep him from striking again, which makes Keith's face burn -- Lance's body is firm, and their heights are close enough that his hips are aligned with Keith's. They fit together even better when Lance smoothly slips his thigh between Keith's legs, and Keith has to bite back a high pitched noise. "Keith," Lance says, voice low, distracting him from the sirens going off in his head. "Really. Are you okay?"  

Keith purses his mouth. "I'm fine," he says shortly. "It wasn't even a concussion. They just kept me overnight for observation. I think Shiro made them." 

Lance huffs a soft laugh out, but there's no real humor in it. Keith can see the dark circles under his eyes even better up close, and the tired slant to his brows. "I was -- really worried," he says, quirking his mouth, tilting his head to look into Keith's eyes. "About you."

Keith can appreciate the soft look on Lance's face, the smile and the gentle voice and the way his stomach is fluttering at still being held in Lance's arms after the best kiss he's ever had, but he's tired of being kept in the dark. "Lance, what do you want?" he asks, holding his gaze despite the tremor in his heart. 

Lance takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "I want to know why you kissed me," he says.

Keith stares at him. "You're asking _me_ that?" he asks, disbelief lacing his voice. 

"You did it first!" Lance protests. "And you did it like, right after you almost died, and I didn't know what it meant--"

"It meant that I like you, you dumbass!" Keith interrupts angrily. Lance is shocked into silence, mouth still wide open. "You were there, and I wasn't dead, and I wanted to kiss you, so I did, because I _like you_." He's horrified that his voice shakes a little bit at the end, but he keeps his gaze level. He's never been a timid person by nature, and he's not about to start being one now just because he likes Lance so much it makes his chest ache. 

Lance blurts out, "I've liked you since you slammed the door in my face your first day." 

Keith blinks at him, watching as Lance's face turns steadily crimson. He makes an embarrassed sound, taking a hand from Keith's hair to cover his own mouth. "You -- you what?" Keith asks.

"I've liked you since the day I met you, but I just -- always thought that you were only barely tolerating me. I didn't think you liked me period, much less the way I like you." Lance starts to pull away, eyes averted, but Keith tightens his grip around Lance's neck. He has no idea what to do right now, but he knows he doesn't want to let Lance go. Lance's pulse is rapid in his throat, and Keith wants badly to press his mouth to that spot, to bury his face in Lance's shoulder and just breathe for a while. It's overwhelming, all of sudden, how much he wants Lance, wants every part of him, his obnoxious laugh and kind eyes and silly notes and unrelenting strength.  

Keith touches his fingertips to Lance's jaw and turns him to look straight into his eyes, then leans in a presses a soft, lingering kiss at the corner of his mouth. He can feel the soft exhalation of a sigh when he pulls back and smiles at Lance, who looks dazed.

"I like you," Keith says quietly, heart settling into a fervent, steady rhythm. He feels calm for the first time since -- since Pidge first told him about the bet, he thinks. 

Lance stares, and then a wide smile unfurls from one corner of his mouth to the other. The sun through Keith's open door is setting off a halo of light around his head, and his eyes are so, so blue. Lance laughs a little bit, a bright, happy sound that curls around Keith's heart and makes him smile helplessly back. 

"Okay then," Lance says, still laughing. 

"Okay," Keith agrees, and leans in to kiss him again.

 

* * *

 

("Keith, you traitor," Pidge accuses, pointing a finger at the two of them. Lance is at Keith's desk again, but this time he's perched in Keith's lap, and they're both sporting messy hair and pink faces. "I help you discover your feelings and you can't even hide your relationship until after Christmas for me?" 

Hunk cackles next to them, counting out the money Pidge had sulkily handed over. "Thanks, guys," he says, grinning broadly at them. "I owe you some fresh baked cookies." Pidge makes a frustrated noise. Keith shrugs at them, unapologetic, and tightens his arms around Lance's waist. 

"I don't want to hide it," Keith says, leaning into the hand that Lance is carding through his hair. Lance beams at him and leans down, planting a loud, messy kiss on his lips, deliberately done just to annoy Pidge. Pidge sticks out their tongue and gags before stomping from the room, followed by a whistling Hunk, who winks at them before closing the door. 

"You're mean," Lance singsongs, pinching his cheek, grinning when Keith swats a hand at him; he grabs the hand and then laces their fingers together, waggling his eyebrows meaningfully at Keith. "You're not helping your case, Moneypenny."

"You didn't think I was mean last night," Keith says bluntly, delighting in the red flush that works its way up Lance's collar. He smirks openly at Lance, who rolls his eyes but doesn't argue with him. "In fact," Keith continues, teasing a hand at the small of Lance's back, "I think you even shouted--"

"No!" Shiro yells through the door, making both of them jump. "Stop it right there, I don't want to hear it! Lance, go back to your own office and stop distracting Keith!" He sounds exasperated, but he'd quietly clapped Keith on the shoulder this morning, smiling fondly at him, so Keith isn't too worried. Lance, however, is completely red, and he hops out of Keith's lap immediately.  

"Sorry Shiro, bye!" he calls, heading out the door. Keith waits patiently, then grins when Lance comes back in, hurrying back over to Keith and dropping a goodbye kiss on his lips. "See you later, Moneypenny," he whispers, winking. He walks back out the door, saluting Keith as he turns the corner with a cheeky smile. Keith props his head up in his hands and shakes his head at himself, laughing under his breath.

He runs a hand through his hair, trying to set it neat again, then glances at the paperweight sitting bright red and pretty against his desk, out in the open for everyone to see. He smiles at it, touching the edge briefly, and then he turns back to his computer and gets back to work.) 

 

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm maybe going to be writing a short companion piece to this that's just them fucking in the office. I wanted to just include something like that in this, but there was no space for it. We'll see. ;) 
> 
> You can find me at [my tumblr.](http://apvrrish.tumblr.com) Also I'm trying to use my twitter again, find me [@apvrrish](http://twitter.com/apvrrish).


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